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Papers Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Papers
The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes, Second Edition
Published in Paperback by Delmar Cengage Learning (2008-02-12)
Author: Christopher James
List price: $88.95
New price: $58.09
Used price: $62.27

Average review score:

If it's alternative you want...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-16
Very clear and detailed information, with excellent photo and graphics that illustrate the alternative processes.
All the processes are historically contextualized.
Congratulations Christopher James for this great book.

Alt Pro book second edition is gouda, like cheese.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-09
'Tis the most complete alternative processes manual of all times. More beautiful color photograph illustrations than you could think to shake a stick at. To get the most alternative use of this book, one might stitch the pages together to wear as clothes, and alternatively processize to one's heart's content.

The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes, Second Edition
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-03
This book is for artists. It is worth every cent. Remember, you get what you pay for. It contains the details, the history, the examples and the intellect. Very well put together and a pleasure to read. If you are serious about learning "alternative" photographic processes, this is the book.

Incredible Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-20
Every learning photographer must have this book. More to photography than photoshop and digital and this book will open up you photographic world.

The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes Second ed
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-04
You may not believe it, but this book is actually good bedtime reading for any photographer. Christopher presents the history of each process backed up with examples both historical and contemporary. His sense of humor is evident in much of the writing. If you've never tried any of these processes, step by step instructions are given as well as helpful tips to ensure success and sources for product. More about digital technology is incorporated in this edition- yes it is ok to make digital negatives to use with an old process!

Papers
Liege Killer
Published in Paperback by St Martins Mass Market Paper (1987-06)
Author: Christopher Hinz
List price: $3.95
Used price: $9.44
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Not Free SF Reader
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-07
Super killer return.


This is now probably in the class of really good forgotten novels.

The Paratwa were engineered to be superhuman killing machines.

There were enough of them that they could decide to band together and try and take over themselves.

Everybody else thought that was a bad idea and decided on a process of elimination.

A long time later it seems there may still be some around, and a man who just happens to have the physical abilities, if helped by a team and some appropriate fancy weapons tech is tasked to hunt them down.

A violent, but well characterized novel that is far above your run of the mill adventure story.

Well worth looking into.


4.5 out of 5

A Real Page Turner
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-09
I will not bore you with details of the plot since other reviewers have already have done an excellent job at that. The big questions are: Is this a good book? Will I like it? What's it's like? Let me try to answer those.

This book is definitely in the genre of a science fiction thriller in the best sense. The action and the plot flows very quickly, very significant events happen that will determine the fate of human colonies, and conspiracies within conspiracies are plotted, revealed, thwarted, and rehatched. The pages do turn very quickly and the plot never stalls.

The only downside is that the characterization is somewhat minimal. The book is plot driven and the characters are interested but they're mostly there as standins for concepts rather than people you might be passionate about. If that doesn't bother you and if you like action oriented, plot driven stories, this is truly a great read.

On another note, there are two sequels to this book, Ash Ock and Paratwa. The two sequels combined to make one story, so if you're going to buy Ash Ock, you should definitely get Paratwa also. Ash Ock ends right in the middle of the action and Paratwa continues right where Ash Ock left off. Will you like the sequels? If you liked Liege-Killer, you'll definitely like Ash Ock and Paratwa. There's more of what makes Liege-Killer a thrilling read - more conspiracies, more revelations, more events that may decide the fate of the human colonies.

I haven't had this much fun reading science fiction for a long while. I highly recommend the entire series.

A very good read
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-24
STORY: As one editorial review so nicely summariezed: "Two hundred years after Earth is devastated by nuclear war and genetically engineered Paratwa assassins, the humans of orbiting Earth colonies are at peace, until a series of murders reveal the reemergence of the Paratwa."

MY FEEDBACK:
1) SETTING - Prior to the destruction of all life on Earth, humans left for the stars. One group took off into spaceships headed for another solar system. The other group onto the colony capsule that orbits Earth. The later is where the story takes place. The colony capsule is 76 miles long, which is big enough to sustain different regions and groups. I had just come across a real-life group called the Lifeboat Foundation. Thus the setting seemed very plausible and real. It worked well for this story.

2) CHARACTERS - Our group of protagonists are likeable and plausible. Nick is my favorite character, but there is something to admire in each of them. The antagonists as gathered from the story description are a group of genetically created assassins. The Paratwa are very cool and deadly. The characters work well together in this story.

3) STORY - The only reason I gave this story a 4 star (very good read) vs. a 5 star (great read) is because of some of what I felt were long sections of exposition needed in order to explain man's history and how he go to this point in the future. Other than that, the story had plenty of intrigue, action and suspense. The author does give things away by page 122-125 out of 460+ page book. This worked for the most part because as characters came on stage there were two you kept looking for hints at to see which one was the "real" bad guy.

OVERALL: Fun read within a great sci-fi setting. It is not necessary to read the next book as this story resolved 95% of all plotlines. I've read that it the next two books are a bit of a let down anyhow. Nevertheless, get your hands on this book.

Good start but the rest of the series dissappoints
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-19
This opening novel of a space opera sets up an interesting world and is based on an interesting idea. In this world earth is destroyed in a biological and nuculear war and humanity has moved to colonies in orbit. A deadly killer has been released by earths old enemies. Killers that are superhumans enties that have two bodies controled by the same mind.

This book introduces several interesting characters. More importanly the book gets the mood and setting right. The characters move around in style and the story flows well. This book is really a modern dime novel, with the privet eye replaced by a special ops expert.

Unfortuneatly as a trilogy this story fails rather badly. The second and third books do not work nearly as well as the first two. Only the main two characters are kept through all three books and they simply don't stand up the rigor of another seven hundred pages. It is never truly awful the more of this you read the less interesting it is. I can recomend this first novel as a good quick read, but don't feel bad if you don't get around to the sequals.

One of my favorite sci-fi novels!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-24
My friend bought this book for me as a joke because I found the cover art to be amusing. I had read the synopsis on the back of the book, but never seriously thought about reading it until my friend bought it for me. Boy am I glad she did! The book was an genuine page-turner with twists and surprises around every bend. It follows a paratwa - an assassin that is composed of two bodies but one mind - and the paratawa's hunters and victims. In a relatively peaceful existence where everything (including the weather) is controlled by technology, the citizens are literally sheep for the taking as the paratwa reaks havoc. Two paratwa hunters are unfrozen from stasis and sent on the hunt... with technolgoy enabling anybody to alter their identity and the Ash Ock able to fill any position of power, everybody becomes a suspect!

Not only is the book a fascinating and well-crafted story, it brings the eery question to mind of how much technology is too much? And when, not if, will humanity become its own worse enemy?

Papers
The Man Who Laughs
Published in Hardcover by Paper Tiger (NJ) (2001-05)
Author: Victor Hugo
List price: $44.95
New price: $35.96
Used price: $29.00
Collectible price: $49.00

Average review score:

My Favorite Hugo!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-16
I have read almost all of Hugo's novels and I feel he was a master beyond most as far as story telling goes. This particular books is ingenious with the various characters and the twists and turns and the tragedies and political statements. It broke my heart, while exciting me to cheer on the lead character in his efforts to right the wrongs of the parliament. I loved the characters of this books and the story line and I would strongly recommend it to any who are fans of "Hunchback" or "Les Miz" (forgive me). While I really loved Les Miz (and again, it broke my heart, as did the musical,which I thought was brilliant), this is the one that stayed with me. I read it many years ago and have a number of copies (some very old). When I bought this movie, I had no expectations, and I was amazed to see how much of the story was included. It was brilliantly produced, directed and acted. Even though it is a silent movie, it speaks volumes. I highly recommend the book and then the film. I also urge everyone to see the musical "Les Miserables" because it is all so wonderful. Hugo was a true master!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-15
I come to the conclussion that The Man Who Laughs is the most descriptive, saddest, romantic and most beautifully written book that Victor Hugo has written. It is unfortunate that this book doesn't have the standing that Les Miserables or Our Lady of Notre Dame occupies. Also, it is a very hard to find book, specially in Spanish, which is my first language. The traduction is done extremely well (I have verified it with a Russian version I have). It is highly recommended.

For those who want more from a novel
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-01
This is a difficult and demanding read, but entirely worth it for those who want more from a novel. The story is of a confrontation of moral opposites set in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as a deliberately disfigured outcast named Gwynplaine faces a powerful conflict between the simple life of a mountebank, with the love of a pure-hearted blind girl, and the power, glamor, and corruption of nobility, with the love of a depraved, self-loathing noblewoman. Gwynplaine's disfigurement hides his true identity from all, including himself; and out of the eventual revelation of this truth, Hugo constructs a magnificent and heart-wrenching symbolic drama that is as filled with meaning as anything you'll find in literature. Again, this is not light reading, and it is not made for those who prefer to breeze through an action thriller in an afternoon.

Hugo has much to say about the destructive nature of political power, as well as the envy and injustice that conspire to keep the high and low in their respective places. The Mohawk Club of the nobility exemplifies these themes through their vicious and destructive pranks, victimizing the helpless in the name of "fun."

Hugo's contempt for the period's institutions of power is evident throughout the novel; on the wicked Barkilphedro's rise to prominence, he writes: "He had crawled where he wanted. Flat beasts can get in everywhere. Louis XIV had bugs in his bed and Jesuits in his policy. The incompatibility is nil." Clearly this is a novel of ideas, written by one who had a great deal to say and knew how to express it. Even so, I must acknowledge that Hugo's expository passages, although witty, impassioned, and eloquent, occasionally become a distraction from the story.

Hugo's style is astonishingly lofty, in a way that just doesn't happen in the present day. It is an ambitious and demanding discipline, now so far gone that we scarcely even know to miss it. As such, it may strike today's readers as unnatural and overdone; or so it did to me, at first. But by the finish, I was fully seduced into Hugo's stylistic world, and left unable to choose what to read next -- for what is there today that is even conscious of this standard of craftsmanship? I can only imagine how much of the effect of this high language is lost in translation from the original French.

If you are interested in this book, I strongly recommend the Paper Tiger edition, with its afterword by Shoshana Milgram. This afterword was of great use in understanding the book's ending, which to me was difficult; it clarified how the ending was necessitated by the novel's overall theme -- and it made the extent of Hugo's achievement that much more evident.

Timeless classic...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-21
I read this book as a teenager, along with "Toilers of the Sea," Ninety Three" and "Hunchback of Notre Dame."
I have re-read only "Toilers of the Sea" and found it as riveting now as were all of Hugo's book then. I can't imagine a library system not containing these timeless classics or their being out of print.

Quality Literature
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-30
This is extremely well written and the story is easy to follow. The story had me smile and cry. The method that Victor Hugo collected the sections of this book is similiar to the style Ayn Rand used in writing Atlas Shrugged-my favorite book. The Man Who Laughs is one I think every Victor Hugo fan would want to read and read again--I loved it!

Papers
The Twelve Days of Christmas : A Pop-Up Celebration
Published in Hardcover by Little Simon (1996-10-01)
Author:
List price: $21.95
New price: $5.80
Used price: $0.04
Collectible price: $30.00

Average review score:

Sabuda genius
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-11
Once again I am enchanted by Robert Sabuda's imagination and genius. This is a lovely collectors book to enjoy at Christmas, or any time.

Another great Sabuda book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-04
I already had this book myself, but I purchased multiple copies to give as Christmas gifts this year. I think they were very well received. I have all of Sabuda's pop up books and this one fits in nicely. If you like Sabuda's books, you'll love this one. If you don't have any of his books yet, this is a nice one to start with.

another GREAT Christmas book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-10
If you are "into" pop-up books this is another to add to your collection. If want to sit and look and read with kids another great book. I would not give the book to the kids, as with all pop-up books this one is fragile

A real pleasure
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-04
This is a great book to share for all ages. Kids and adults are fascinated by the ingenius pop-ups. A great low tech reminder of the wide-eyed wonder that makes Christmas fun.

twelve days of christmas-a pop up celebration
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-31
makes you feel like a child again..finding a childish fasination
in each pop up..It makes my face light up and puts a smile on
my face with the realization how much work goes into these pop ups

Papers
Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged
Published in Hardcover by WhitePaperSource Publishing (2006-10-01)
Author: Michael A. Stelzner
List price: $34.95
New price: $21.49
Used price: $21.49

Average review score:

An Easy and Excellent Read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-25
I found reading this book to be an easy read, a great pleasure and very informative. I love books like these which provide concrete information that is full of practical and readily usable examples. As you can tell, I loved the book. Example outlines for the different objectives was particularly helpful. I'm already using the tips and guidelines to accelerate the entire effort by being more effective and more efficient.

Excellent Guide to Writing White Papers
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-20
Mr. Selzner's bookis a thorough and readable guide to how to write white papers. He defines what a white paper is, provides examples of white papers, provides detailed guidance on how to write different types of white papers, and identifies difficulties writers often encounter and how to overcome them. A excellent guide and resource on white papers.

More than just a detailed book about writing white papers
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-13
Michael A. Stelzner's Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged describes a detailed step-by-step program for creating effective white papers and leveraging them into corporate and small business profits.

Based on Michael's years of experience, and on-going research conducted with over 600 write paper writers and users, nothing has been left to chance. Among the things you'll learn:
* Why white papers succeed
* Who uses white papers
* How do they use them?
* How white papers differ from other marketing communications
* Different types of white papers
* How to choose the right title
* Research and interview tips and techniques
* White paper design guidelines

There's even several samples of completed white papers, plus tips for locating additional sources, such as a discussion forum for white paper users and writers.

Although aimed at writers and users of white papers, Stelzner's book has lessons to teach a broader audience of authors and writers. Any self-employed professional interested in writing a book to promote their competence and expertise and will Michael Stelzner's Writing White Papers an excellent guide to creating trade books and e-books.

A perfect book for the novice or the professional.
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-08
This is a well written guide to developing white papers that is perfect for the novice or the professional. The book is easy to read and the principles easy to apply. I will use it as reference book for years to come. Jeb Blount, author of PowerPrinciples: Do you have the Winning Edge?

The BOOK on White Papers
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-18
I thought I had a pretty good understanding of white papers; how to write them and how to use them effectively. Then I read WRITING WHITE PAPERS by the King of white papers, Michael Stelzner. This book put white papers in a whole new light for me. When I reviewed Dan Kennedy's book, "The Ultimate Sales Letter", I said that no one should even attempt to write a sales letter without first reading Kennedy's book. Ditto here. Don't even think about attempting to construct a white paper without first learning from the white paper master.

Stelzner takes the reader by the hand and walks you through the world of white papers, beginning with a succinct definition and the four primary types of white papers. From here, you'll learn how white papers should be used and the basic elements that all white papers should contain. Once this basic information is clearly defined, we follow Stelzner's ten-step process of writing white papers. The rest of the book is a compelling study of these ten steps.

Throughout the book, the text is laced with clear examples. Everyone will find their own favorite chapter along the way. For me, it was Chapter 5, particularly time saving research techniques. In just minutes on the computer, I was saving hours of time on google, simply by using the proper search techniques, making google searches much more effective.

Once your white paper education here is complete, Stelzner concludes with a chapter on Marketing with White Papers. I believe, for the writer, there is much to learn here on how to effectively "pitch" a potential client on whether or not to commission a white paper for their company or product.

The Appendix contains a Quick Start Guide, a pair of well-crafted white papers samples, and white paper resources. I don't believe much has been left out here. This is a pretty conclusive guide, with the exception of maybe Stelzner sharing advice on how to go about landing such clients as Microsoft, Motorola and FedEx. Maybe that will be in the next volume.

Papers
Death Around the Corner
Published in Paperback by Z Trade Paper (2006-12-26)
Author: C-Murder
List price:

Average review score:

excellent read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-22
i bought this book when it first came out, but just read it a couple of months ago. this is a really good book. i felt it was a page turner. it was well written and the story had a nice flow to it.

Death Around The Corner
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-07
This was the best book I have read in a while. C-Murder is a great writer and I am looking forward to more. I have a 15 year old cousin that is captivated by the street life and I will be purchasing another book for him to read.

Death Around The Corner
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-16
This book was interesting but at first a little confusing since I thought the book was about C-Murder. This book goes into the life of a boy playing a man's game in a grown up world. I found myself wanting to know what was
going to happen with the character in the book. I find that I would recommend this book to my friends. It's a must read.

It changed my outlook
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-29
A Letter to My Sisters: The Way Out
I must say I was very reluctant to read this book when it was suggested by my book club president. I was surprised at the content and life lessons shown. I had difficulty wading through the language, but I was not so narrow minded that I failed to see that there was dissapointment, intrigue, love, family failures and many societal failures taking place in the life of the characters.I realize that obcenity and profanity are very prevalent in the life of certain segments of society. I so much wanted the influence of the grandmother to dominate more, but that didn't happen. There was definitely a battle between evil and good taking place. I felt Daquan's pain as he attempted to struggle with the issues life threw at him. The book came to an inevitable end.

It Ain't Enough to Be Good
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-22
In an instant, young Daquan Watson's world was turned upside down. One act of violence has shattered the family life he once knew. Now living with Grandma Mama in The Calliope Projects, Third Ward, a notorious, drug-infested housing projects, it's just a matter of time before the lure of the streets is too much to resist. With death around every corner, will Daquan escape?

And with that, DEATH AROUND THE CORNER heads off into a violent, complicated, gritty and fascinating storyline. Books about the hood appear in a steady flow today and the flow just seems to continue to increase. However, quantity does not make up for quality. DEATH AROUND THE CORNER beats the odds. C-Murder's gripping account of one young man's experiences adds immeasurably to one's understanding of the challenges faced by many of our black youth. Its setting is rich in local color and local characters. DEATH AROUND THE CORNER proves to be exciting, with a jaw-dropping climax. Multi-platinum rapper C-Murder takes a gamble and wins, so does the reader. Maybe he can do for New Orleans literary what his brother Master P has done for New Orleans ' rap scene. Highly recommend. Looking forward to Tru Publishing.

Reviewed by: Toni

Papers
The Family of Man
Published in Paperback by Simon & Schuster (Paper) (1986-12)
Author: Edward Steichen
List price: $18.50
New price: $2.50
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $18.50

Average review score:

best book of all
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-15
Best photography book about we human beings covering pictures about love, marriage,birth,childhood, growing up, work, getting along, war, and old age.
It is truly well done and my favourite for myself and to give as a gift to someone you care about, who is interested in humanity.

Family of Man as great as I remembered!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-15
Great book! I grew up with it, and rediscovered it just now. Wonderful!!

Timeless Insight Into The Universal Quality Of All People
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-08
This is my favorite book. I purchased it when I was 18, and loved black and white photography. I am now 65, and still see the same basic beauty in the photographs. It's not about the 1950's, or showing American culture. It shows how universal and similiar all people of all races and cultures are. It shows young children playing, people falling in love, weddings, births, hard work, wars, death, grieving, and even hope from various people and countries from our planet Earth. One family. One people. This is a collection of love, not about a specific time, or place, or our differences. This is a book that shows our skin colors, clothes, and countries may change; but we are all the same.





i love this book.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-10
I am so glad Family of Man is still available. I would also suggest that in conjunction with this book, you offer Family of Women, and Family of Children.

Perhaps the best photographic book ever published
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-12
I first found this book at Foyle's in London, about 35 years ago, and it struck me. Since then, I bought five copies of the Family of Man, but no one remained in my home, because ever I felt the need to give this book to someone I loved or trusted.
What is making this book so precious to me?
First the idea itself of collecting pictures from the whole world (remember, when Steichen launched his project, the Cold War and the related hysteria was at its peak). This to demonstrate that all the human beings have to pass through the same events in their life: birth, growth, education, emotions, work, love, children, reflection, death. This apparently trivial concept leads to a conclusion by far less trivial: we all do belong to one family, our species, the humans (by the way, this thinking had not so great success in the past, nor the present seems to be more benevolent).
The Family of Man is exactly the visual demonstration of such a concept, by comparing the same events as viewed from different geographic and cultural perspectives, by means of photos from renowned or unknown photographers (of course, the pictures from the US are prevailing in numbers for logistics and statistical reasons: it was by far more simple for an US photographer to even simply receive the news of the Steichen project than for a photographer in Rwanda or in the USSR).
Steichen and his assistants made an impressive selection, shortlisting 503 pictures from the over 2 million they received. By the way, Steichen was a photographer, and his selection also considered the aesthetic side of the question: most of the pictures selected simply are wonderful.
The result is this book. I think no one on this planet can miss it, because The Family of Man is representative of a large part of our culture and on our very nature.
To give an example, in my opinion this book is at the same emotional and rational level as Homer's Odyssey, Dante's Divine Comedy, Melville's Moby Dick, primo Levi's If this is a Man, or the ancient Greek lyrics, to quote some comparisons.
I hope it will continue to be published; we, the humans, desperately need it.

Papers
Flashman at the Charge (The Flashman Papers)
Published in Paperback by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (1989-05-31)
Author: George MacDonald Fraser
List price:
Used price: $8.00

Average review score:

Flashman, the series
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-05
ROFL, LMAO funny fiction in a semi-plausible historical settings. Defames many of the figures you yawned over in World History back in 9th grade. Flash is a real man's man. Read the books, preferably in order.

A fantasic ride
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-19
Given that my introduction to the Flashmen series almost coincided with the tragic (although not unexpected) death of George Macdonald Frasier I have made it my news years resolution to let people know about his wonderful books.

They wouldn't be good without the main character Sir Harry Flashman VC; who without ever really meaning to became the most highly decorated solider of the Victorian Era. This is all of course just a byproduct of his attempts to save his own worthless hide, with the reader cheering him all the while. They are also outstanding in their great attention to historical accuracy backed up with a large amount of footnotes.

This particular installment "Flashman at the Charge" is the first purely military Flashman adventure since the first book in the series and it is wonderful. Flashman (and the author) are back to true form here. Flashman of course has no intention of going to fight "The Great Russian Bear" but his idiotic lovable wife gets him appointed as a kind of Master at Arms for one of Prince Albert's German nephews. It is then decided that the boy needs battlefield seasoning for eventual command one day. So it is for to the Crimea Flashy goes for a date with the light brigade. This is only half of the story.

Overall-I think it is the best of the series everything clicks without force or effort.

A wild ride, just like the Charge of the Light Brigade
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-09
Frazer keeps his series alive with yet one more finely written installment in the Flashman series.

Our Flash Harry is a rotten sort of fellow, but amicably so. Keep him out of harm's way, give him some undeserved glory, warm him with a bottle and a trollop, and he's happy. But in this episode, he meets someone far more rotten, the chilling Count Nicholas Ignatieff in chilly Russia, where Flashman is held after being captured during the Charge of the Light Brigade. Ignatieff is merely the nastiest aspect of a nasty land. Even Flashman, appalled by serfdom's cruelty, sees no difference between it and slavery.

Flashy maneuvers to avoid service during the Crimean War, but has the misfortune to be assigned as mentor to Queen Victoria's German cousin who can't wait to go to the front. Flashman somehow stumbles into three major actions on the same day. After capture, he is held in genteel captivity by a medieval Cossack lord who alternately fascinates and repels Flashy - and who details Flashman to impregnate his married-to-a-weakling daughter. He escapes during a serf rising in a thrilling nighttime sleigh ride, accompanied by his lover clad in nothing but furs, and the priggish Scud East, a fellow officer, prisoner and former classmate obsessed with notions of duty. Flashman is recaptured and watches in horror as Ignatieff has a random prisoner beaten to death with the horrifying knout, merely to intimidate Flashman. After being hauled off to Central Asia in chains to aid in Russia's planned invasion of India, he busts out with local rebels who draft him into yet one more life-risking but glory-generating escapade. He meets another notable babe, the Asian rebels' half-Chinese princess known only as Ko Dali's daughter, a chilling manipulator whose seduction has a deeper motivation.

Flashman and the Charge of the Light Brigade
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-18
In this fourth packet of the Flashman Papers, our man Flash finds himself in the thick of the Crimean War, including the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. Flash endures the regettable Lord Haw-Haw, the Earl of Cardigan, who led the Charge (although Lord Raglan deserves at least some of the blame for that fiasco). The reader is introduced to William Howard Russell, the famous Times of London who invented modern war reporting (the generals didn't like having a reporter around then either).

Harry also spends some not altogether unpleasant time in captivity in Russia - although a near encounter with the Russian knout leaves him with severe dyspepsia. Later Flash escapes, but ends up in in a Russian dungeon with Central Asian chieftain Yakub Beg and the warrior Izzat Kutebar. Rescued by Beg's people, Flashy shows some shocking signs of acting entirely honorably and contrary to his self-interest, but his odd behavior is soon explained.

If you are unfamiliar with the Flashman series, each book is a packet from the supposedly historical Flashman Papers. Flashman is a character of fictional history twice over, first in 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' published in 1857 and now in the George MacDonald Fraser's rediscovery. Fraser makes Flashman not only a cad, but also a reluctant and serial war hero. If you ever start to think Flashman has turned over a new leaf, just keep reading. If this kind of thing interests you I do suggest that you start with the first book in the series, 'Flashman', although each book stands on its own.

The Flashman series weave historical detail together with spell-binding stories told with frequent hilarity. Highly recommended for fans of British historical fiction or a good ribald tale of any kind.

Flash is Getting Soft!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-03
After reading "Flash for Freedom," with its nauseous blatant racism expressed through Flashman's perspective, I began to wonder why I was drawn to the series. Even in the Spanish picaresque novels, rogues tend to mature in their skullduggery. But I already had "Flashman at the Charge" in the exercycle pile, so I plunged in. I'm glad I did. This is the most successful episode yet, in terms of skillful plotting and literary devlopment. Why, it's so well written that I'm sure some Flash fanciers will be disappointed. It also spews most of Flashman's bile on Russians and British army officers, two subspecies of Homo sapiens that I have no investment in. The big surprise, however, is that our Harry at last seems to be affected by experience. Several times in the book, he reveals admiration for the noble and contempt for the ignoble. He actually admits to feeling an emotion close to friendship for two other men and honest intimidation in the face of a powerful woman. And he acknowledges sympathy, sneeringly of course, for the suffering of others! What's all this coming to? Is Flashman gonna yield to the temptation to do something honorable!?! I guess I'll have to read the next book to find out.

Papers
When There Is Hope
Published in Paperback by St Martins Mass Market Paper (1996-05)
Author: Jane Goodger
List price: $5.99
New price: $55.81
Used price: $7.96

Average review score:

4.5 stars. It's touching, lovely, sad and happy. I couldn't put it down.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-21
I didn't want to stop reading it. 1990s Susan Butler is in a fatal car crash. Her guardian angels give her a second chance to live by whisking her back into the body of Margaret Johnsbury who died falling from a horse. Margaret had been mean, vicious and hurt many people. All of a sudden Margaret's body has the soul of Susan, who is loving and good. Maggie refers to Margaret's body with Susan's soul.

My heart went out to Maggie who had to find the strength and courage to face social ostracism and hatred. All people snubbed her and shunned her. Yet, she withstood it while she continued her quest to get her husband to see the real her and hopefully to love her. I was awed when Maggie would fight back the tears and try to smile while suffering the punishment that was so well deserved by her predecessor but not at all deserved by her. I loved her personality. It was fun seeing her make some jogging clothes to wear back then. She had no shoes, so she would jog barefoot in the sand.

Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: two. Setting: 1990s and 1888 Newport, Rhode Island. Genre: time-travel and historical romance.

Gets better and better every time I read it
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-14
I found this book about 5 years ago and it is the best book I have read. It has every emotion you feel everything the characters feel. I have bought this book about eleven times and I have given it to people to read because of how good it is. I have a friend that wasn't much of a reader but she had to work the grave yard shift and needed something to keep her awake, once she picked the book up she couldn't stop reading it. I keep hoping I will find something that is as good. I recommend it to everyone you'll want to read it again and again.

So Good!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-08
One of the best time travel romance novels I've ever read. I believe this was her debut novel and it was great. The obstacles the heroine went through in her new life was heart breaking. The scenes of Maggie trying to win over her new husband and neighbors and being rejected again and again were real tear jerkers. I admit I cried during some scenes. I also have "Perfect Bride" by Jane and it was not as enjoyable as this one. Oh well.

Complete tear-jerker
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-02
The first time I read this book I did not put it down until I had finished it 2 hours later...AND gone through half a box of tissues! I have re-read it at least 5 times and still cry each time. This is one of the best books I have ever read and that is saying alot since I read 3-4 books a week and have since I was 16 (more years than I want to admit!)

A time-travel romance to rock your world
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-07
After being injured in a car crash in 1990s, Susan Butler awakes to find herself in another time, another body, and another life. The husband she left at home and the baby she was carrying at the time are a distant memory. In their place, she finds that she is being referred to as Margaret Johnsbury, the year is 1888, and her husband is a cold unfeeling man who exhibits naught but detached emotion. She quickly finds out that no one likes her: not her husband, his family, or her househould staff. After realizing that she has no other option but to make the best of a bad situation, Susan decides to create a new life for herself and transforms Margaret into Maggie, a 19th-century society wife with 20th-century sensibilities. The result is enthralling and leaves the reader engaged at every turn.

This was my first foray into the world of time travel romance and I have to say I'm glad it's where I started, but it might have spoiled me for any others. I've begun to find it tedious how these simpering 19th century heiresses will cry at the drop of a hat, or run away in the face of adversity. Not so with Susan, in the face of her husband's stubborn refusal to take her seriously she pushes him down and tells him to back down. I sincerely thank her for taking a step for all these other regency romance ladies who don't have the guts to do so. Goodger took a risk with a plot that could have gone horribly awry and made it shine. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Papers
Darkwerks: The Art of Brom
Published in Paperback by Paper Tiger (2000-10-01)
Author: Brom
List price: $21.95
New price: $80.86
Used price: $8.40
Collectible price: $50.00

Average review score:

Darkwerks: The Art of Brom
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-01-04
Just pop in some FrontLine Assembly, VNV Nation, Funker Vogt, and Apoptygma Berserk mp3s, and browse through this amazing collection of sci fi/fantasy artwork from the master known simply as Brom. Large, crisp, full-color photos of his amazing paintings grace this informative book. See sketches for some of his paintings in the margins, and view his talented early sketches from age 5, 11, and 20 years of age.

The Experience of Brom
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-22
Brom is the most amazing artist in the Fantasy genre. This book is a great buy if you love Fantasy art and you want to see a true master. Forget Frazetta, forget Vallejo, Brom is the one. This book portrays Brom's art to it's fullest. Beautiful, full color prints adorn every page, showing off Brom's masterful talent and attention to detail. Don't miss out on this one or it's sequal 'Offerings'.

Great Fantasy Art Book!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-22
If you like to draw, like great art works, sci-fi, well fantasy art this book is for you. Brom his a great artist, very talented, his art book got lot of nice to weird art works. It had been a while since I search for a great fantasy art book and this one is the best I saw so far!

Macabre Fantasies
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-31
I saw this book in a store yesterday. The title, Darkwërks was what first caught my eye. So I picked it up, looked at the covers, back and front, and began to flip through the first pages. I was amused very much by the art created by Brom in his earlier years. For instance, when he was age 6, he drew quite a bloody scene; a body riddled with knives and sharp objects. So, I started to look through the pages. Immediately, I was captivated by his morbidity and uniqueness. The graphic beauty of each picture shot into my eyes and made my heart quicken. I had only planned to glance through the book, but within seconds I had become a slave to each work of art.

While definitely not for the....."Normal" person, anyone who loves the morbid and macabre will love this book with all their heart and soul. Beautiful, beautiful blood and violence. Femme nikita, freaks of nature, tortured souls and Dark Angels fill the pages of this magnificent masterpiece. BUY IT NOW!!! Hah...

A collection of Brom's work
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-08
Brom is a fantasy artist who is best known for his work on his work Dark Sun, Deadlands, collectable card games, and book covers. He stands out from Boris & Julie as well as Frank Franzetta partially for the sole reason that most of (though not all) of his portraits contain people who wear clothing, albeit usually something fetish inspired, leather and latex. He has a very distinct style, painting very beautiful moon-skinned redheads and tan wild-elven creatures, which stand along detailed landscapes that insipre the imagination. Some of his work is disturbing (though not quite as disturbing as H.R. Geiger), and mostly very dark (what would you expect from a man who listens to Nick Cave while he paints?) but all of his work is remarkably well composed and masterfully detailed.
Brom has a larger influence than many people realize, for example the evil albino in the recently released movie Time Machine could very well have come directy from the pages of Darkwerks. To get an idea of how popular Brom has become, just type in his name in any search engine (Google works best). Darkwerks is a very good collection of his art, containing very little text and allowing all of the pages to be showcased in full-sized, full-colored glory.


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